Sam & Daddy's Day of Fun!

Yesterday, Sam and I got to hang out for the day — from 7:54am to 4:12pm. Ashley was out teaching at Calvin Christian School, subbing for the day, so all obstacles were removed for Sam & Daddy's Day of Fun!

The Schedule, an engineer's dream

So, what did we do all day? Well . . .

• We tossed the frisbee!

• We got dressed!

• We practiced on the mandolin!

• We played with some of our favorite toys!

• We partook of some of our favorite drinks, like dark coffee and Lemon Lime Gatorade!

11 scattered thoughts I had after the day:

1. Being a mom is not for the faint of heart.
2. Changing Sam's clothes is harder than it looks. (If it were up to Daddy, Sam may stay in his PJs all day.)
3. Rocking Sam to sleep is nothing short of magical. (Though the 5 seconds of moving him from my arms down into his crib is quite the gut check: Please don't wake up, please don't wake up, please don't wake up . . . )
4. Being at home with Sam is healthy for my prayer life.
5. Whatever Sam's interested in, I'm interested in.
6. Peek-a-boo is fun.
7. Almost as fun as watching the leaves fall outside.
8. Causing Sam to smile is indescribably delightful.
9. Sam is incredibly skilled at turning pages with his left hand. ("Efficiency" is the word that comes to mind.)
10. Singing is a powerful rival to crying. (Even if you can't remember all the words. Somewhere over the last 28 years I forgot a line to "Itsy Bitsy Spider," but I made some up and it seemed to work out okay. He also still loves the Bears song, though the jury's still out on the one I made up during our mandolin jam session.)
11. God is good to give us Sam.

Also, there was some "bonus fun" last night with Mommy (well, Grammy) in town!

Story time with Grammy, showing off his left-handed
page-turning abilities!

8 Months!

Our sweet Sam was 8 months old yesterday. It's true that the days as a new mom can be long but the months fly by!

                                            




What's Sam doing these days?

• Tilting his head to the side or upside down to examine things.
• Screaming with delight until he turns red in the face and chokes. 
• Somehow getting from point A to point B - army crawling, rolling, sliding, etc.
• Having little (sometimes big) meltdowns when we have to take something away.
• Turning pages in books. This boy loves to read!
• Eating solids like a champ. Favorite food? Green beans.
• Sleeping 9+ hours straight and taking good naps usually!
• And, as of today, pulling up to standing. Oh my.

On Sunday, October 27 we dedicated Sam to the Lord with our congregation at Bethlehem Baptist Church. David Livingston, to whom Chris is pastoral assistant, was the pastor over the dedication. We had a few friends join us for some good ole southern cooking at Cracker Barrel afterward to celebrate.  It was a sweet day.

(Photo credit: Laur Weisensel)
He was pretty laid back about the whole thing.

(Photo credit: Laur Weisensel)
"Together with your parents who love you dearly, and this people who care about the outcome of your faith, I dedicate you, Samuel Anthony, to God, surrendering together with them all worldly claim upon your life in the hope that you will belong wholly to Jesus Christ, forever.”
- Pastor David Livingston

Rockin'.

My blue-eyed boys.

On the same weekend as the dedication, we had a race . . .

Waldo ran 50 miles . . . 

. . . while Sam cheered him on.

Also, Sam got his first haircut . . . sort of.

I snipped off this sweet little rat tail.

And then there was Halloween, which entailed dressing Sam up, taking pictures on the couch, not a single trick-or-treater, and then taking his costume back off. I know, I know, we're crazy at the Robbins' house.

"Roar!"

Sam is just a fun, sweet, laid-back little babe . . .

. . . Except when he's not. We simply don't know what to do when he does this (see video below) and we just look at each other and laugh and wonder, "What on earth is he thinking right now?" Too much fun. 

MVI 2147 from Chris Robbins on Vimeo.

Fall Photos

A few weeks ago, we went to Boom Island in Minneapolis and had some lovely pictures taken by Debra Ackmann. Here is a sampling of my favorites: 

Sam's South Carolina Adventure!

Sam and I had the joy of a visit to Lexington, South Carolina to stay at my sister & her husband's home.  It was a rare treat to all be together! Sam loved seeing his grandma JoJo, Aunt Mindy, Uncle David, and his sweet cousins Luke (age 5) and Evie Joy (age 2 1/2). Some pictures from our adventure:

Sam and I ready for his second airplane adventure - this time without help!
Sam continues to prove himself to be an awesome traveler. 

Enjoying the outdoors. I think Sam gave Aunt Mindy baby fever . . . 

JoJo with Luke & Evie on the carousel at the Columbia Zoo.

Sweet sibling love.

Too much fun with JoJo!

A real giraffe . . . "Can I chew her face?"

Zoo train fun!

Sam's turn on the carousel!

Clap, clap, clap your hands, Clap your hands together!

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig!

7 Months

On the day Sam turned 7 months, it was just one of those rough ones. Teething, cold, extra spit up, exhaustion, etc. And when I realized I wanted to take his 7 month pics, I was going to clean him up and put on a cute outfit. And then I thought, no. This is real life. Mismatched socks and spit up is where we're at. And I'm too tired to wrestle him down for a clothes change right now. Let's capture it. :)

The month for Sam started off with a trip to the North Shore for the Superior Sawtooth 100 Trail Race.

Crewing for Pops in his big race.

The urge to crawl seemed to vanish with the 'happily sitting up and playing' phase. And we're ok with that for now. 

Still BFF.

The best toys are household objects!
This face is reserved for only the most serious of play.

We've been relishing this amazing fall weather before the 6 months of captivity begin.

Water break during a run with Dad while Mom does some substitute teaching.

Enjoying the fall leaves!

Visit to an apple orchard on a chilly fall day.

I think we were confused why people were shooting apples out of a canon. Still, I kinda like this picture.

 Honey crisp.

Sam liked the apples at the apple orchard so much that I give him apple slices at home now,  too!

Sam continues to be a joy and so, so much fun! In the past month he's weathered his first cold and his first tooth. There have been some tough days and nights. Chris and I have definitely felt wearied by lack of sleep. We are working on some new sleep training methods to try to help this little dear sleep at night and nap better. I feel like Sam is my little guinea pig; all this trial and error with the first baby - poor baby! We're making it, though. Day by day. Moment by moment. Leaning on grace. And I'm amazed how my heart continues to grow for this little guy.

What a day! Bedtime, . . .